Celebrating one year since the launch of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), this image of M81 and M82, a pair of galaxies 10 million light-years away, illustrates the satellite's unique window on the universe.

The great spiral of M81, similar in size and brightness to our Milky Way, is in the lower half of the image. The stars in its spiral arms have formed within the last 100 million years, as have most of the stars in the nearby dwarf galaxy. GALEX reveals that star formation is occurring quite distant from the nucleus of M81. The nucleus, or center, of M81 shines from the light of 10-billion year old stars near the end of their lives, which produce their energy by burning helium into carbon.

The upper half of the image shows the remarkable star-forming galaxy M82. Star formation is so violent in this galaxy (viewed from its side) that gas and dust is being expelled perpendicular to its disc. Once thought to be an exploding galaxy, the flows are caused by the supernova explosions from the young stars in this galaxy.

Photo Credit: NASA

Gavman

25-05-04, 01:25

http://www.tombraiderforums.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif my fave edge on galaxy is the star crammed NGC5128 in centaurus, a big pic of that would be awesome ;)

RobBo

25-05-04, 01:36

Sorry Gav, this is the best I can do at short notice!

I'll try to find a good res pic ASAP!

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/0157/0157_optical_lg.jpg

Thorn

25-05-04, 01:42

Amazing, you have to wonder where the universe ends. (Isn't it expanding? :confused: ) http://www.tombraiderforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

RobBo

25-05-04, 01:52

Originally posted by THORN:
Amazing, you have to wonder where the universe ends. (Isn't it expanding? :confused: ) http://www.tombraiderforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif :D Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour.

It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned,
The sun that is the source of all our power.

Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide.

We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space.......... '

" Sshhhhoooffff!
............. Eh, -What was that?
Oh, that was my life...
Sorry, that was quick. Can i have a new one?"

[ 25. May 2004, 02:38: Message edited by: joseph ]

RobBo

25-05-04, 23:55

All credit to Monty Python!! :rolleyes: After spending ages trying to locate the film sequence that interludes this song, I suddenly remembered that it is rather rude and unsuitable for this forum!! :rolleyes: